Hello guys! My name is Mikhail I'm from Russia Saint- Petersburg, for the last year I have been reading some threads from this great forum ! I appreciate your experience and great work on your bikes)
My english is not very good) i'm sorry for this, but I will try to find the right words)
My short story about the way to this forum is my love to Journey) and of course to two wheels as well) For the last 5 years I have been riding Harley with Harley and around Harley) I Love your country and true bulletproof manufacturing! we lost it after Soviet fall.. and now we can use US or some old USSR good stuff for work and life in a big city..I'm a mechanic and I like making things by hand, repairing and for the last 7 years i have been working with motorcycles at a workshop.
So about The journey, yes) The last time i was in US a year ago, i bought a Softail custom '88 year from craigslist from a guy in Albany, I bought a tent and some stuff and went to the south along to the westcoast and back across the north to New York. It was an awesome trip with great places , friendly people..with opened hearts) and other nice meetings with great experience )it was about 3 month by the bike)

And this long trip was a start for a thought about a real trip.. not as long as the diameter of our planet but a little bit more than was the last. I was thinking about deep Russia or Asia..and i understand that my bike should be more landed and ready for a detailed territory research along my way..It didn't take me too long to understand where i should be looking for...I took notice of your choice of XR650R)
After reading , thinking, comparing I understood that you know the best way) So I give my trust to you, to Honda.
So I bought a 2001 Xr650R from Michigan via craigslist in summer 2012 and received it several months ago. The condition of the bike was average, although its seller said that it was in good shape, but ok, it's all our karma) as I could notice the bike didn't go through any service for the last 3 years : the wheels were '08 year and had no wear . The bike had some extras like damper, fat bar, t4 exhaust , vector gauge and other stock which looked like it didn't have a lot of miles on them ..I think the engine was opened at one of the last maintenance sessions..but I'm not sure. The compression gauge showed 120 psi. I didn't know if it was good or not..i believe not bad ) because it is my first kickstarter bike like a Dual Sport bike.
Ok I rode it for about a month until the first snow, now I started a full rebuild around the engine getting ready for the Adventure..
This thread will be about my build up, preparation and planning of the trip to Indonesia from Saint-Petersburg, Russia in nearest future!
have a good time! Peace

About first things that i installed on XR...it was Eddy..after third day riding stock carb began to leak, i took it off and found a bad fuel needle...prior the bike arrival I bought some stuff like bags, a tank and an Eddy..which I installed when it came. Several days of tune up and I kept on riding with more fun))
Then there was a present from my friend who works at continental dealership which I'm very grateful for! I changed tires, Front Escape and rear TKC 80 on 140-80... Nice tires with good grip on the road at 0 - 10 degrees..

thirdly there was a LED tail light the first one I could find in my stuff boxes..

I chose a special old harley for deeper feelings of the old US..and I think it was the right thing to do, though tough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJ-Brett

Wow, your US trip was almost the same one I did in the 80's on a Triumph Bonneville.
I just added Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It sure is great to live in BIG countries! Russia must have lots of great riding!

Now I'm taking all around frame off, changing bearings, seals and cleaning...

Installed 200w RM stator... wanted to buy BD stator very much, but they said that they are rewinding old ones only..

I Also bought used full XR's only exhaust on ebay for good price, wrapped it .

Rebuilt caliper

Insulated the tank for better airflow and to prevent overheating..

Installed BRP submount

Looking Strange)

I was rebuilding the shocks for several days and had to face a problem that'd never come up before. It was a rusted slider in the fork...only after drilling through the slider i could take off the tube from leg.. neither the air heater nor my heavy kicks could do it..

I also bought new neo covers , Has anybody used it!? how long may it work!?

Each fork had 350cc oil.. I guess this is not right,?! because according to the manual i filled them with 640cc each...

And Hello again! Time goes very fast..the whole week passed..I had a chance to build skid plate and do some work on the next steps..

Building something is best for imagination) Usually I make it only in the present time like freehand or improvisation..
so lets see)
made a pattern
Cutting it from 4mm Aluminium
cut both sides and bent them.

made ties holders for the left side
and thought about pump storage for full use of free space...I thought about some big storage but the skid plate I made was not wide enough, but it's okey too.